I still can’t believe I finished my first half-marathon in December 2024. That’s how it happened.

Beginning

In 2023, my high school friend and I decided to run a 10K race together. We didn’t prepare much but managed to finish it. After that, we talked about setting a more ambitious goal for 2024—something beyond 10K. There aren’t many races with distances between 10K and 15K, so we started thinking about trying a half-marathon. Without doing much research, we signed up for the Taipei Marathon. After registering, I began looking up information and realized I probably couldn’t finish a half-marathon in three hours. That’s when the training started…

Training

In August, I tested my running ability and found that I was completely exhausted after running just 2K. This test made me feel a bit depressed, and I started to think that maybe a half-marathon was too challenging for me.

Then, I did more research and came to a simple conclusion for beginners preparing for a marathon—RUN MORE. That’s exactly what I did. I planned to run three times a week: two short runs and one long run on the weekends. I started with 2K and tried to increase my distance by 0.5K to 1K every week.

Practicing felt like magic. I got used to running and found that I could go longer distances than I had ever imagined. I reached 5K, 10K, and even longer distances.

And I also discovered so many different scenes I had never noticed before.

Through running regularly, I’ve learned so many things:

• To run better, I’ve learned to understand my body better, and this awareness has become important in every aspect of my life. Realizing my condition helps me make better decisions. (I try not to make important decisions when I feel bad.)

• Running calms me down. It clears the noise in my head and strengthens both my body and mind.

• Consistency is key. My leg muscles and breathing show me that I improve with every run. Through consistent practice, running feels more natural and comfortable.

• Keeping the desire to run is crucial. I try to hold on to that feeling of motivation.

On Race Day

The weather was nice—around 12 degrees Celsius and not rainy. It was my first time running with thousands of people, which felt a bit strange but also energizing. Running through the familiar streets and scenes of Taipei on foot felt completely different and amazing. It was such a cool way to explore the city! :)

I enjoyed almost the entire marathon, except for the final 1K when I was completely exhausted.

Close thoughts

The most precious lesson I learned from the marathon is how to achieve slow but consistent progress.(It’s like the consistency and compounding I mentioned in 2023 Key Takeaways)

I hope I can run more in different places in the future!